I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile telephones and more particularly to minimizing fraudulent usage of mobile telephones. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to the use of statistical methods for minimizing the fraudulent use of mobile telephones.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Fraudulent usage of stolen mobile telephones is a major problem in the mobile telephone industry, both from the perspective of a carrier and from that of a consumer. Thieves of unprotected mobile telephones are able to use the mobile telephones to place and receive numerous calls, particularly lengthy long distance and international calls. The thieves also may sell the stolen and not yet deactivated mobile telephones to others to allow them to make such calls, with little fear of the calls ever being traced to them.
The carrier is exposed to the risk of being unable to collect any compensation for the use of its system, increasing its overhead with respect to all legal calls. Moreover, the carrier may be responsible for cash payments to third parties with respect to such calls, especially where such calls are long distance or international. The result is reduced profits or higher rates for all legitimate consumers, or, typically, both.
From the consumer""s point of view, not only does fraudulent use of mobile telephones lead to higher rates for legitimate users, but such criminal use exposes the consumer to more personal risks as well. First is the risk that the mobile telephone will be stolen, not primarily for its intrinsic value, but for the value of being able to make unlimited calls without payment for a limited period of time. The second risk is that the consumer will be charged for the fraudulent calls. Although reporting the theft of a mobile telephone promptly will tend to decrease the amount of fraudulent use of a stolen telephone, it will not eliminate it entirely. And if the consumer does not initially realize that the telephone has been stolen or the carrier fails to act sufficiently swiftly, significant charges may be incurred. Even if the charges are ultimately absorbed by the carrier, the consumer must often expend considerable time and effort before the carrier determines not to bill the consumer for the fraudulent calls.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to minimize the losses suffered by a carrier due to fraudulent use of a stolen mobile telephone by detecting such fraudulent use automatically.
It is a further object of the present invention to deter the theft of mobile telephones and their fraudulent use by providing an effective means of preventing significant fraudulent use of stolen mobile telephones.
The present invention is directed to a system and method for minimizing fraudulent usage of a mobile telephone. The system accumulates data regarding an authorized user""s prior usage of a mobile telephone. The system also accumulates data regarding a current user""s usage of the mobile. The system then analyzes the statistical variation in usage between the authorized user""s prior usage and the current user""s usage. The mobile telephone is deactivated if the variation in usage exceeds a predetermined threshold.